Shawnee man sentenced for assault, kidnapping in ATM robbery

One of two suspects charged with kidnapping, assault and robbery for allegedly beating a man and forcing him to withdraw funds from a Shawnee ATM was sentenced Wednesday to serve 20 years in prison.

Comment

By Kim Morava

The Shawnee News-Star

By Kim Morava

Posted Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:30 AM

By Kim Morava

Posted Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:30 AM

One of two suspects charged with kidnapping, assault and robbery for allegedly beating a man and forcing him to withdraw funds from a Shawnee ATM was sentenced Wednesday to serve 20 years in prison.

James Leo Washington IV, 21, appeared for formal sentencing in Pottawatomie County District Court after previously entering a guilty plea in this case.

Washington, who was charged in October 2011, was accused of five felony counts and one misdemeanor count relating to the incident, and received 5-to-20-year prison terms in each count, with sentences running concurrently.

He was charged with robbery by force and fear and conspiracy, accused of committing the crime of robbery by force and fear against a 43-year-old man.

Washington and another suspect, Robert Michael Hacker, 22, were accused of robbing the man at the ATM at BancFirst on North Harrison Street.

Affidavits in the case show a police officer on overnight patrol noticed a suspicious vehicle on the east side of the bank with its parking lights on, with two people standing near the ATM.

One man was later determined to be the victim, while the other, later identified as Washington, had a long white object described as a white mini-blind, the warrant shows.

When the officer initiated his patrol car’s lights, Washington allegedly ran to get into the passenger side of vehicle and then two suspects inside attempted to flee.

The car engine died, the affidavit shows, so the officer ordered the driver to stop, with Washington getting out of the car, while Hacker, allegedly driving, got the car started and fled east on Federal Street in the victim’s car.

The robbery victim, who was near the ATM and bleeding heavily from his face, told officers he was attacked and beaten by the two suspects. The victim told officers he met the two suspects at a local bar and was giving them a ride when they started beating him before forcing him to go the ATM. The man said the suspects threatened to kill him and ordered him to withdraw $1,000 from his account, although he was having difficulty making that withdrawal when police showed up.

Police recovered the victim’s wallet from Washington's pocket, the warrant reads, and after a police pursuit in Shawnee, Hacker was taken into custody, according to the court documents.

Washington also faced a kidnapping charge for forcibly seizing the victim and confining him in his vehicle, and also was charged with the aggravated assault and battery.

He also faced a larceny-of-an-automobile charge for taking the man’s 1998 Honda and also was sentenced on a misdemeanor of possession of controlled dangerous substance for having marijuana.

According to Wednesday’s docket, Washington received a 20-year sentence for the robbery count and a 20-year term for kidnapping. He was sentenced to 10 years with the Department of Corrections for conspiracy and five years each for the aggravated assault and larceny of the vehicle counts, with sentences running concurrently. He was given one year in the county jail on the drug count.

Page 2 of 2 - The other defendant charged in the case faces similar counts, along with additional charges of running a roadblock and eluding police in connection with the police pursuit.

Court records show Hacker also has pleaded guilty in his case and his next court date is scheduled in March.

Washington will remain jailed in the Pottawatomie County Public Safety Center until he is transferred to a state penitentiary.